There were 1.8 pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 Texans in 2012, the 10th highest rate nationwide. Texas led the nation in total traffic deaths, with nearly 3,400 in 2012. More than 14%, or 478, of those killed were pedestrians. The likelihood that a pedestrian will be killed in a traffic accident in Texas has also been growing in recent years. Pedestrian deaths per 100,000 residents increased by 33.6% between 2010 and 2012, versus an increase of 9.4% nationwide. Texas is the nation’s second-most populous state, as well as among the least densely populated. This may explain the high numbers of cars in Texas, potentially putting the state’s pedestrians at greater risk. Vehicles in Texas travelled a combined 237.8 million miles in 2012, more than in every state except for California.

In past years, Arizona was one of the nation’s most dangerous states for pedestrians and bikers. Bowing to pressure from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Arizona retrofitted many of its streets with wider sidewalks, pedestrian refuge islands, and additional landscaping to make travel safer for pedestrians. As a result, the number of pedestrians per 100,000 residents killed in motor vehicle accidents fell by more than 18% between 2010 and 2012, among the largest declines in the country. Still, pedestrians accounted for nearly 15% of total traffic fatalities in Arizona, the sixth highest rate in the country in 2012.

Pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 people in Hawaii fell by 12.6% in 2011 compared to the year before, at a time when such fatalities increased across the nation. The following year, however, the rate of fatalities in Hawaii increased again. The pedestrian death rate increased 12.0% between 2011 and 2012 to 1.87 fatalities per 100,000 Hawaiians, the eighth highest rate in the country. Of the 126 traffic deaths in the state, 20.6% were pedestrians, more than all but five other states. Since there are relatively few total incidents in the state, small changes may account for the large pedestrian fatality rate fluctuations in recent years. Hawaii’s police department, however, reported overall increases in drug and alcohol-related traffic accidents, which may partly explain the high pedestrian fatality rate in Hawaii.